More messaging devices and systems are available today than perhaps ever before, providing individuals with numerous ways to communicate and exchange messages with one another. In addition to (or in lieu of) some of the earliest messaging options, including personal messengers, telegrams, telegraphs, and mail systems, individuals today can communicate and exchange messages via telephone answering machines and voice mail systems, email, pagers, etc. An even more recent development is the instant messaging system, where online users can exchange pop-up text messages over the Internet in near real time (thus the term “instant”).
Nevertheless, there are limitations to the effectiveness and convenience of these messaging options, as recognized by the inventor hereof. For example, if one party calls another by phone with the intention of leaving a voice message, the call may actually be answered before an answering machine or voice mail system is reached, possibly resulting in a lengthy (and perhaps unwanted) phone conversation. Further, even if the answering machine or voice mail system is reached as desired, the resulting voice message might not be retrieved by the intended recipient for an extended period of time. Alternatively, a party could send a text message via email or an instant messaging system, provided that party has Internet access. In the case of instant messaging, however, the intended recipient must typically have a presence on the Internet at the time the instant message is to be sent. Otherwise, the party seeking to send the message may be forced to use another communication option, such as email. Similar to voice mail, however, an email message may sit idle in the recipient's inbox for an extended period of time before the recipient checks for new messages.
The advent of unified messaging and similar systems overcame some of these shortcomings. For example, a unified messaging system may receive and record a voice message from a caller on behalf of a user, and then notify and provide the received voice message to the user via one or more user-specified communication devices, such as a personal computer connected to the Internet, possibly after converting the received voice message into a text message or electronic file.
As recognized by the inventor, however, the ability to conveniently record and send voice and other audio messages via any desired type of communication device (e.g., from computer devices in addition to phone devices), and to promptly receive such messages in audio form via any desired type of communication device, is still lacking.